In Any Language...

A scolding is a scolding in any language. I was walking downtown San Francisco a few weeks ago. I was one of a crowd of people waiting for the light to change and a young Hispanic boy around 11 yr old started drifting out onto the street while he was waiting. His mother suddenly grabbed his arm and jerked him up on the sidewalk all the while gesturing to the street and the sidewalk speaking in very rapid Spanish. I didn't need an interpreter to understand how that conversation went!

The Daily Bus

I am riding the bus daily now on my way to my new Monday-Friday job. There are quite a few people that I see regularly in the morning. But it has been the evening crowd that is some of the most interesting. We are currently in the middle of the tourist season. The tourists can be easily picked out of a crowd by the paper maps of the city in their hands and the way they look around fervently between glancing down at their maps. It was one older couple the stood out the other day. They appeared to be in their 70s and they sat close together. The man had a map in his left hand and reached out with his right hand to link his fingers with his wife's speaking quietly to her in another language (Eastern European?). He then looked at her with concern and touched her arm appearing to ask if she was cold. She shook her head and touched the sweater around her shoulder. It was so sweet and simple.